In district semi-final competition Friday the North Callaway Thunderbirds defeated the Montgomery County Wildcats 67-59 to advance to Saturday's championship game.

For North Callaway, Justin Murphy led in scoring with 25 points. Jacob Haubner scored 15 and pulled down 9 rebounds.

For Montgomery County, Jerad Jordan scored 27 points, 26 of those points coming in the second and third quarters.

In the first game Friday night, O'Fallon Christian defeated Winfield 55-53 at the buzzer to advance to the championship game Saturday.

On Saturday, the Thunderbirds lost 82-48 to Christian. In the first 3 minutes of the game, one of North Callaway's top scorers, Justin Murphy, scored 5 points before leaving the game with a sprained ankle. Brett Metcalf came off the bench and had a career high with 19 points. Zac Eads scored 10 and Jacob Haubner scored 7 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

"The boys played hard the entire game. I have had the most fun coaching this team that I have ever had," stated NorCal Coach Tim Turlington.

Christian had 3 players in double figures. Dean Terrell Prince scored 26 points, and Jordan Norwine and Lance Lehman each put in 13 points. Christian was also 3-13 from the three-point range.

North Callaway ended its season 17-11.

SCORE BY QUARTERS:

Christian: 24-18-29-11

North Callaway: 15-18-11-4.

NORTH CALLAWAY GIRLS

The Ladybirds played the Hermann Lady Bearcats for the championship and lost to the state ranked team 60-44.

Wilson also scored 3 baskets from three-point range and brought down 6 rebounds. Lane Thebeau and Brooks each scored one three-pointer. Clay Thebeau pulled down 4 rebounds and had 4 assists. Durham had 3 assists, while Wilson came up with 4 steals.